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As residents of the Pacific Northwest, we are all familiar with stories of Seattle’s vulnerability to seismic activity. And we certainly recall the haunting 2015 New Yorker article asserting that our region is long-overdue for “the big one.” To help contextualize these fears and delve into the science beneath the threat of earthquakes, Town Hall presents Dr. John Vidale—seismologist at UW’s College of the Environment and leader for several years of UW’s M9 Project. Dr. Vidale’s works lends insight on the likelihood of such a tremor, and offers a prognosis on the impact a giant coastal quake could have on Seattle’s downtown.

Vidale lends his rarefied expertise to assuage some of our fears while espousing the continued need for disaster-preparedness, as well as revealing his thoughts on implementing early warning technologies in the Pacific Northwest to grant us precious time to react before the shaking starts.

Presented by IRIS/SSA Distinguished Lectures Series, Town Hall, and Phinney Neighborhood Association as part of the Science Series.